YORK CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
Ontario Building School in East Gwillimbury

The Ontario government is investing $11.4 million to build a new Queensville  Catholic Elementary School to help working families in East Gwillimbury. This investment in York  Catholic District School Board, announced by Caroline Mulroney, MPP for York - Simcoe, will  support the creation of 409 student spaces as part of the Ford Government's commitment to  building modern, accessible, and technologically connected schools for Ontario youth. 

The project is part of a provincewide investment of more than $600 million to support new school  and childcare spaces that were recently announced by Stephen Lecce, Minister of Education. The  overall investment will support 78 school and childcare related projects. As part of this investment,  the province dedicated more than $565 million to create more than 19,700 new student spaces and  1,500 childcare spaces at schools across the province. 

"In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have made safer schools a priority, which is why we  continue to invest in modern and accessible learning spaces with improved ventilation," said  Minister Lecce. "This investment is part of our multiyear plan to build, expand, and update schools  and childcare spaces across our province. It will leave a legacy that benefits working families for  years to come." 

The investment is part of the Ontario government's commitment to provide $14 billion to support  school construction over ten years. There are currently more than 300 childcare and education  building-related projects in development across Ontario with more than 100 actively under  construction. 

"The new Queensville Catholic Elementary School is great news for our community," said Caroline  Mulroney, MPP for York - Simcoe. "This investment will provide choice and flexibility for families  and new opportunities for the children of East Gwillimbury." 

"This is an exciting day for the York Catholic District School Board," said Elizabeth Crowe, Chair of  the Board of Trustees. "This investment will enable us to take an important step forward in making  our dream for publicly-funded Catholic education in Queensville a reality." 

Ontario's investment in new and updated schools will create the foundation for a modern learning  environment for hundreds of students across the province.

Highlights of the project include: 

• 409 elementary student spaces. 
• 49 new licensed childcare spaces. 
• 3 new childcare rooms. 

Quick Facts: 

Since 2018, the Ontario government has invested over $1.5 billion in capital projects in  education, including 76 new schools, 75 additions and renovations to existing facilities and  4,908 new licensed childcare places. 

For 2021-22, the province is also providing school boards with $1.4 billion in funding to renew and maintain existing schools. 

The governments of Canada and Ontario are providing $656.5 million in funding for critical  infrastructure projects to protect students and staff from COVID-19 in the province's schools  through the COVID-19 Resilience stream of the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program. 

The federal government provides 2.5 per cent of the total cost support for early learning and  childcare operating expenses in Ontario, with Ontario families, the provincial and municipal  governments providing the remainder. 

Ontario has provided emergency childcare for the school-aged children of frontline workers,  including public safety and health care workers, as well as those working with vulnerable  populations, at no out-of-pocket cost. In 2021, at its peak, this program provided over 12,000  children with high-quality childcare each day across 717 sites province-wide. 

Ontario is providing a 20 per cent enhancement of the Childcare Access and Relief from  Expenses (CARE) tax credit for 2021. This will increase support from $1,250 to $1,500 per  family, on average, providing about $75 million in additional support for the 2021 childcare expenses of over 300,000 families.